Graphic: Hit and miss - the ups and downs of the Manchester United striker

In the corridors of power at Old Trafford they have come to regard Manchester City’s newfound wealth with the kind of disdain that is usually reserved for uncouth lottery jackpot winners. Sunday’s derby match at the City of Manchester Stadium promises to be a lively affair — blue versus red, cash versus cachet — but, for Wayne Rooney, it represents nothing so much as an opportunity to remind the nouveaux riches neighbours who are the real “kings of Manchester”.

It is a meeting that has been eagerly awaited since September 1, the day that City’s prospects were transformed with the £210 million takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group and the arrival of Robinho from Real Madrid for a British-record fee of £34.2 million. It has not been forgotten at Old Trafford that City even attempted to gazump United’s signing of Dimitar Berbatov that day or that there was talk of a January bid to lure Cristiano Ronaldo. Things have quietened down considerably over the past couple of months, but Rooney and his team-mates are eager to put their rivals firmly in their place on Sunday.

“Sunday is a massive game,” Rooney, the United forward, said yesterday. “It’s massive for the players, the fans and the club, especially after what has happened at City with the takeover. It will be nice to show them who are the kings of Manchester. It doesn’t irritate us that City are getting all this publicity. If they were winning trophies, it would irritate me, but while they are still lingering in mid-table, I am not really too bothered about it.”

There is, though, a feeling among Rooney and his United team-mates that they have unfinished business with their rivals. Last season, under Sven-Göran Eriksson, City won both encounters — 1-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium and 2-1 at Old Trafford — and so revenge, usually a dirty word in sport, is on United’s minds.

“I missed both derby matches last season and that was really frustrating, having to watch when you cannot do anything about it,” Rooney said.

“Losing both games was extremely disappointing. I am looking forward to Sunday. We owe the fans a derby win, even though we did win two trophies last season.”

There is also the small matter of the Barclays Premier League table, in which United trail Chelsea and Liverpool by eight points, albeit with a game in hand. “It’s a must-win game for us,” Rooney said. “We can’t afford not to win, especially if Liverpool and Chelsea win their games. We have had some difficult away matches so far, but we should still have done better.”

With their progression to the Champions League knockout stages secured by a 0-0 draw away to Villarreal on Tuesday, United will expect to step up their efforts on the home front over the coming months even if their title challenge will be temporarily put on hold next month when they travel to Japan to participate in the Club World Cup. By the time they return, they will have played two games fewer than their rivals and are likely to have fallen farther adrift, although Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, has drawn comfort from the fact that Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool must visit Old Trafford in the second half of the season.

Ferguson, meanwhile, is continuing to monitor the potential availability of Karim Benzema, the Lyons and France forward. United would face competition from Real Madrid and Inter Milan for the 20-year-old — and, they suspect, Chelsea and City by the time that the bidding starts next summer — and may struggle to meet his £35 million valuation.

A bid for Benzema would raise further doubts about the future of Carlos Tévez, whose contract with United expires at the end of the season, with the club facing a £32 million bill to sign him from the investment companies that own his economic rights.